"The Jedi turned against me! Don't you turn against me!" Oh, really?

Well said.

 

It's apparent that Anakin's problem was always he thought he was just as good or better than the other Jedi, even as a padawan learner and even whines to Palpatine that he feels he's being excluded from the Jedi Council. What did he expect?


He had expected to be a member of the Jedi Council. What else? My question is why the Council allowed the Chancellor to dictate the Council's membership in the first place?

 

It wasn't the Jedi Council's fault. Palpatine had gained not only emergency powers, but powers that extended far beyond the Senate, and the Jedi Council. He was using the Sith mind trick on the Senate and the Courts. With the Republic at his command, Palpatine had gained enough political power to do what he wanted. There was nothing the Jedi could do since Palpatine was the Supreme Chancellor.

 

I think the Council could have and should have done something. The security amendment to the Enhanced Security and Enforcement Act changed the Constitution so that the Jedi and the GAR reported to the Chancellor personally instead of to the Senate as they had before. But the Council still appointed its own members; the Senate did not appoint the Jedi before, and the amendment would not have given the Chancellor power to appoint them.

The Council had two choices other than the one they took: One, refuse to allow the Chancellor to appoint his own representative to their Council. That would have made Anakin even madder, but it would have been their prerogative. The other option was to grant Anakin mastery. According to the Stover novel, his name had come up for mastery several times already, and he had killed the Sith apprentice. They were holding back because he was temperamental. If they had granted him mastery, he might have been more receptive to the mission to spy on Palpatine (although I think it still would have made him squirm a bit). As it was, he was already furious, and rightfully so, at being seated on the Council without mastery, and then the same Council asked him to spy on someone he considered a friend.

 

They hadn't taken direction from Palpatine on the Council's membership before, and even in Anakin's case they only agreed to it so that they could have Anakin spy on Palpatine for them.

 

Am I quoting someone who quoted someone?

I wouldn't say only choice. The Council choose not to oppose Palpatine rather than stand on tradition (and perhaps longstanding right). Choose your battles: they thought they wouldn't antagonize the Chancellor plus they could use it to their advantage.

Wise choice?

Not the question in debate - that's a whole 'nuther thread.

 

The Jedi had to lay back, and just wait until Palpatine gave emergy powers back to the Senate which never happened. Once they found out that Palpatine was a Sith, they decided to act. It's not about politics, democracy, the Senate, or the Republic. It's about the Sith vs. the Jedi. Once Mace Windu found out that Palpatine was dirty, he should have waited for Yoda and a few others to come back to Coruscant to arrest the Chancellor. With Yoda, they would have succeeded in apprehending him and bringing Palpatine up on charges of corruption. But they acted rather rashly because of all the confusion and clutter that Palpatine had thrown into the chaos with him corrupting Anakin to the dark side etc. But Palpatine's master plan doesn't come to fruition until after Anakin take sides with him.